Lens Applied to Cinderella Task.docx
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School
Mayfield Secondary School**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
ENGLISH 4U
Subject
Sociology
Date
Dec 18, 2024
Pages
2
Uploaded by ElderWaterJackal36
Feminist Lens Applied toName: __The Original Tale of Cinderella.5% of Final Grade*Keep the format as is. Do not remove highlights and use 12x Times New Roman black font underneath each question.Do not Highlight your answer.Please answer the questions below in a few concrete sentences:1.How are women’s lives portrayed in the work?In this text, Women’s lives are portrayed as monotonous and very limited to the house, with restrictedopportunities to go outside without males. Women are either shown to have the role of taking care of thehouse. like how Cinderellla’s whole life revolves around cooking, cleaning, or other chores, and herstepmother’s along with her two sisters life revolves around nice jewelry, dresses and wanting to pleasesociety. Women are also shown to like the male attention and that they don't have anything better to do.Since when the king's son wanted a wife, the stepsisters of Cinderella's feelings as well as actions wereexpressed as ” they felt very pleased, and they called Cinderella and said, “Comb our hair, brush ourshoes, and make our buckles fast, we are going to the wedding feast at the King’s castle.” Even forCinderella in the text it says “When she heard this, Cinderella could not help crying” and that wasbegging her step mother to go. These specific lines in the text are great examples of how The BrotherGrimm talk about how women feel about men and that they can go crazy to get a male's attention.2.Do the women in the work accept or reject traditional gender roles?In this work, women mostly accept traditional gender roles. As Cinderella agrees to her stepmother andstepsisters commands by doing all the housecleaning, cooking, almost acting like a maid for them. Thestepmother and sisters, on the other hand, care more about appearance in order to conform to societalnorms. The king's order to find his son a wife also is an example of how women accept gender roles.Since the women were happy to get noticed by the prince and to get bidded on by him. There arehowever times when Cinderella does reject traditional gender roles as her stepmother tries to prevent herfrom going to the dance as she says “ No, Cinderella you have no proper clothes, you do not know howto dance, and you would be laughed at” but cinderella still goes no matter what.3.Does the work challenge or affirm traditional ideas about women?This narrative talks about traditional ideas about women as women are shown as being accountable fortaking care of housework, cooperative and focused on looks. The two stepsisters also are shown as onlycaring about attracting the prince no matter what, even if they have to go though pain by cutting theirtoes or feet off to fit into Cinderella's golden slipper. This narrative also focuses on the idea thatwomen's happiness depends on marriage as Cinderella herself is a powerless woman who needs a manwith power to help her.4.What are the relationships between men and women?
The relationships between men and women are that men are shown as more powerful and in control asthe prince had his own choice to choose his wife. Women are portrayed as being reliant on maleacceptance and support, highlighting a relationship where men are the providers and women arecontrolled by them. For example this line was said around three different times in the text,whereCinderella and the prince are dancing “The Prince danced with her alone,and if any one else asked herhe answered, “She is my partner.” shows the male power. Even these lines “he waited until the fathercame, and then he told him that the strange maiden had rushed from him” show how much morepowerful the men are and how they can just call people to come and cut down things fast to look for theprince’s women.5.To what extent are female figures infantilized?Female figures in this work are significantly infantilized. Since Cinderella’s stepmother and sisters are shown tocontrol Cinderella all the time. For example, like a child who will do anything that they are told to do since theydon’t know what is right or wrong and how to stand up for themselves. Cinderella is also shown to be talking tobirds or pigeons and even relying on magic for creating her dresses or shoes. These descriptions show her asmore dependent on magic to look pretty, to get to the ball and to get the prince to fall in love with her.6.Does the work reinforce or undermine patriarchal ideology?This text Reinforces patriarchal ideology as the idea that women's pleasure, independence and social status insociety is because of the men. Women have to rely on men to go outside and this is shown through theseexamples, Cinderalls father asks her and his other daughters what they would like from the fair, so that meansthey are not allowed to go. Also for the three days where Cinderealla snuck out to go meet the prince the wholefamily including the father was not home. The authors wrote “Prince, who took his bride before him on hishorse and rode off.” Is also an example that connects as the prince had the power to be able to take any womanhome. This highlights the pressure that women have faced to live up to the expectations of men.7.To what extent is a character’s life option constrained by gender?In this narrative gender ends up limiting the character's possibilities for women. Women are seen as an objectsince men have power so they get to bid on their choice, just like how the prince gets to choose his wife of hischoice, but women don't fully get the chance to choose a husband of their choice. Women like Cinderella andher stepsisters are viewed for beauty and housekeeping skills rather than for their interests, goals and dreams.The women in this story have a lack of opportunities all due to their gender.Please form a Thematic Statement below:In Brothers Grimm’s version of “Cinderella” women are portrayed as objects of maledesire and status, which promotes gender stereotypes that restrict women’s freedom andmakes their worth seen based on male praise and looks.